This surreal short story collection from the Nobel Prize–winning master of what-ifs collects José Saramago's early experiments with the short story form, attesting to his imaginative power in elaborating the most extravagant fantasies even as a young novelist. Combining bitter satire, outrageous parody, and Kafkaesque hallucinations, these stories explore the horror and repression that paralyzed Portugal under the Salazar regime and pay tribute to human resilience in the face of injustice and institutionalized tyranny.

"Saramago is a writer, like Faulkner, so confident of his resources and ultimate destination that he can bring any improbability to life."—The New Yorker